This new edition of this highly successful and influential work includes two entirely new chapters - on Europe and the wider world and on the Revolutionary crisis - and is extensively revised throughout. It offers a wide-ranging thematic account of the century, that explores social, cultural and economic topics, as well as giving a clear analysis of the political events. Filled with fascinating detail and unusual examples, this absorbing history of eighteenth-century Europe will bring the period alive to students and teachers alike.

JEREMY BLACK is Professor of History at the University of Exeter. A member of the Councils of the Royal Historical Society and the British Records Association, he is the author of a number of books, including War and the World, 1450 - 2000 and Maps and History.